Show Recap: ‘The Breaks’ Season 1, Episode 4- “Substitution”

In the previous episode of ‘Blind Alley,’ we received the pleasure of seeing Teyana Taylor portray the cool and confident Imani X, who could easily rap circles around anyone she’s up against. Although, that was a highlight, the grass ain’t greener on Nikki’s side ever since Ahm found out she gave him the wrong tape he’s been demanding back. Imani may have got signed, but Nikki also got signed off from being a part of any of X’s career moves. But with the way we’ve seen Nikki operate she can somehow finesse her way out of any and everything.

Episode 4

Very unexpected and shocking turn of events occurred within this episode and as much as I despise being the bearer of bad news and still trying to wrap my head around this, David is no longer with us. Yeah. Always has a job at a radio station, DeeVee’s best friend and Nikki’s ex David, is dead. It was sort of heart racing for me as a viewer to see what DeeVee would discover post his phone call to finally get to hang out with Damita. And once he hung up and was met with hundreds of people running out of a venue from gunshots being fired in a crowd, I bet he had no idea he would be finding out his best friend, who was just on the verge of getting him a hot new job didn’t make it out alive. And what makes it even worse, is that during the time that this was all happening, Nikki was ‘getting busy’ with Lil Ray in a hotel room, not returning any of Flouray’s calls and getting the news of David’s death, the morning after sending her new beau off.

Tonight’s episode tackled two very important and unrepresented topics within Hip-Hop and the black community in general, homosexuality and suicide with character J.Mic (RJ Brown), battling wanting to come out as a gay rapper, in a world he fears carries an immense amount of hate and pity toward both subjects. What Nikki thought was a simple assignment of delivering music to J.Mic, turned out to be a heavy confession session of emotion and real world facts, after she was met with a gun at the door which Mic was going to use to escape from his problems. J.Mic’s battle rap opponent, made a comment toward J.Mic being gay in his recent response, which triggered J.Mic’s emotions toward the other side of him beside the hardcore heterosexual rapper that is expected within Hip-Hop artists then and even now. J.Mic explained how his father put him out when he was only 14, he then moved in with his aunt who told him, ‘being gay is a white thing, and to ‘pray the gay away.’ It sort of bothered me that Nikki made up a fake story about her musician father allegedly committing suicide when she was younger, how he lived a double life as well outside of making money as a bartender, and days after seeing him perform for the first time, he committed suicide. Now I know Nikki did this in order to try and make J.Mic feel better, but suicide isn’t a joke and that proves even more of the type of person Nikki is; half a heart with a big head but also has a way with words. Maybe she should’ve left the convincing to Ray, who sort of was the hero to Nikki’s rescue, but also assure J.Mic of everything he’s capable of to the rap world, how his family and fans wouldn’t like if he wasn’t here anymore and what he’s facing is something he’ll have to accept of himself reassuringly enough before anyone else does.

Okay brace yourselves people, but Ahm definitely has a soft spot and I’m definitely here for the fact that it’s for his cute baby boy. After thinking he was going to confront Nikki is the most vicious way possible about the tape, but instead asked her for advice on his flow (which she suggested hooks and punchlines like a certain mastermind produce *cough* DeeVee *cough*), Ahm has his good moments. His son, who had a high fever and mother didn’t know what to do and refused to take him to the hospital because of her previous record, was very warm to Ahm, almost like relief as Ahm held him in a cool bath as the mother prayed over the two. A moment, I would watch the episode another time just to see again.
Watch the episode here